


I Wish I Could Have Known You

by bluemandycat



Category: Archvillain Series - Barry Lyga
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Non-Graphic Violence, The Mad Mask doesn't happen AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 12:25:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6423967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluemandycat/pseuds/bluemandycat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mighty Mike has done something noble. So why does he seem so upset, thinks Mairi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Wish I Could Have Known You

**Author's Note:**

> take this piece of trash  
> happy april fools day  
> this is not an april fool  
> just me  
> being me  
> enjoy!

            Kyle Camden doesn’t show up to school the day after the Blue Freak dies. At first, Mairi thinks he’s at home, sulking, because Mike’s been getting a lot of attention. After all, killing someone who was a huge threat to the world is something to be celebrated! But Mairi knows that Kyle wouldn’t see it that way. He was always so volatile around Mighty Mike.

 

            She’d reassure Mike that Kyle didn’t hate him, and that he was just jealous, except that Mike doesn’t show up to school either. Mairi eats alone in the cafeteria as everyone chatters about how safe they feel, even the teachers.

 

            When she gets home, she calls both Kyle and Mike’s houses. Mike’s parents answer, and tell her that he’s not feeling well, but he’ll be back to being a superhero in a few days (not that there’s really much for him to do now anyways, now that the Blue Freak is gone). Somehow, she doubts the whole “he’s sick” thing (he does have superstrength, after all), but she decides not to push it.

 

            When she calls Kyle’s house, his mom tells her that Kyle has been “out” for a while. Mairi briefly wonders whether Kyle has run away, but she figures he wouldn’t be that stupid. She’ll probably see him tomorrow at school, anyways.

 

            Kyle doesn’t show up tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that. The day after that, Kyle isn’t there, but Mike is. His hair is a mess, and he looks like he hasn’t slept in three days. He seems a bit oblivious to the cheers of praise and encouragement. When people ask him about the big battle where he single-handedly defeated the greatest villain in the world, he has to shake his head, like he’s coming out of a fog, before answering. Mairi notices that he doesn’t really want to say much about the battle. _That isn’t like Mike at all_ , she thinks.

 

            So after school, before Mike can fly back home, she approaches him. “How are you feeling, Mike?” she asks.

 

****Mike’s eyes focus. “Oh, uh. I guess a little out of it?” he says.

 

_That’s for sure_ , Mairi thinks. “I meant in regards to the Blue Freak.” When he doesn’t answer, she continues. “I mean, people are treating his death like a completely black-and-white issue. But you knew him better than anyone else. So I guess I wanted to know if you were fine with it?”

 

            Mike looks at her for a long moment. Then he looks down. “I don’t know. I thought I’d be fine with it.”

 

            Mairi can clearly see that he is _not_ fine with it. Something specific must have happened, something that he doesn’t want to let the world know about. An idea jumps into her mind, something to help Mike. This is the last thing she actually wants to do, but if it’ll help Mike talk about it…

 

            “Will you show me where he’s buried?” she asks.

 

            “What?” Mike yelps, her question pulling him out of the haze.

 

            “Will you show me where you buried the Blue Freak?”

 

            Mike looks at the ground. “Why would you care?” he mutters.

 

            “Because _you_ obviously care. And maybe it would make you feel better to show someone.”

 

            Mike stares off into space, considering it. He looks at her. “Yeah, alright. Maybe it’ll help,” he murmurs. Mairi has no idea what he’s thinking.

 

            He flies her up to the old mine just outside of the city. For a minute, she thinks he’s going to take her into the mine, but he leads her to the side, up to a hill where an old entrance sits. And slightly to the left of the old entrance is a laser-carved tombstone.

 

            Mairi crouches down next to the tombstone. On it, carved perfectly with laser vision, is:

 

I WISH I COULD HAVE KNOWN YOU

BLUE FREAK

2001-2013

 

            Mairi turns to look at Mike. He has his fists balled up at his sides. “What do you mean, ‘I wish I could have known you’?” she asks. “You knew him better than anyone else.”

 

            Mike’s fists grow tighter. Mairi gets the feeling he hasn’t been up here since it happened. “And that’s the thing,” he says loudly. “I knew him better than anyone else. And I still didn’t know him!”

 

            Mairi sucked in a breath. Yeah, Mike is definitely not over this like he’s trying to be.

 

            “People are coming up to me, congratulating me on defeating such a bad guy! But nobody really knew who he was! So why am I such a good guy for killing him?” he yells.

 

            “The Blue Freak wanted to hurt people. You did what was right,” Mairi says, unsure of how to begin comforting him.

 

            “You don’t understand!” shouts Mike, and he stomps away around behind the mine entrance. After one last look at the grave, she follows him.

 

            Mike is sitting on the edge of the hill. Mairi can see the entire town map out in front of them, from the lighthouse to the freeway that marks the edge. Mairi sits down next to Mike. Mike sniffles and wipes away tears.

 

            “Look at Mighty Mike, crying about a boy who hated him,” Mike says in a trembling voice. Mairi grabs his arm.

 

            "What happened, Mike,” she asks, not making eye contact. It’s mostly out of sick curiosity at this point. She doesn’t want to hear it, but she knows she won’t give herself peace until she does hear it.

 

            “We were fighting up here,” says Mike tiredly. “Near the mine. I think he had some type of invention with him? It doesn’t really matter. Anyways, we were fighting. I had him pinned, but he wriggled out, and I smacked him. He fell back, and cracked his head against the rock wall of the mine. I guess I hit him hard enough for it to affect him. He couldn’t really get up, and ohgodtherewassomuchblood,” said Mike in a big gasp, his words slurring together near the end.

 

            Mairi pats his arm, which seems to calm him down enough to tell her the rest. “I tried to help him, but there wasn’t much I could do. All I could really do was…apologize, and hold him until he died.” Mike wipes away tears. “His last words were ‘I’m sorry it has to end like this. I’m sorry you had to know me like this.’ I killed him, and he apologized to me,” he says bitterly.

 

            Mairi breathes out. She doesn’t know what to say. Mike breathes out too. “I buried him facing away from the town because I figured he’d want to be alone, like he did in life.”

 

            They’re silent for a long time. Mairi feels like she’s been punched in the stomach with Mike’s emotions. She says, “You shouldn’t beat yourself up about this.”

 

            “You don’t understand,” Mike says a second time. Except this time, he sounds defeated.

 

            After a long time, he speaks again. “Kyle Camden won’t be coming back to school,” he says, and Mairi doesn’t want to think about how he would know that. Not now.

 

            They sit on the hill together, and they watch the town. Neither of them says a word.

**Author's Note:**

> deposit all anger/sadness/mild discomfort into the comments below  
> or not  
> maybe you don't feel anything  
> maybe you're dead inside  
> hope you enjoyed it anyways though


End file.
